NEW YORK (CNN/Money) -
Ronald Reagan's visage on a $20 bill? Alexander Hamilton gone from the $10?
Horrors!
Or so a good hunk of CNN/Money readers thought when asked about the possibility of honoring the recently departed president by putting his mug on money.
"Replacing Hamilton with Reagan on the $10 bill would amount to a sort of sacrilege," wrote MK from Minnesota after reading our story about a legislative move to replace the first Secretary of the Treasury's portrait with that of the 40th president.
Oddly enough, there are similar thoughts about the $20 bill, the fifty-cent piece and the dime. But it was the $10 proposal that seemed to get up a lot of gumption among readers.
A good portion, about 1 in 4, like the idea, according to one of our completely unscientific but nevertheless thought-provoking polls. But a majority believes nothing should be done.
Some of the opinions voiced by that majority were less than decorous. Partisan feelings still run deep apparently, even with a national funeral under way.
Whether you think Reagan was a positive force or a negative one, you have to agree the man was one of the most influential politicians of the 20th century. And his "Reaganomics" supply-side legacy seems to argue for some sort of monetary honor.
Shouldn't we do that in some way? Of course we should. But we need to do it in a manner that doesn't dishonor those who already grace our currency.
The answer? We need a new denomination. It's an idea some of our readers are already pulling for.
"I would like to see Reagan on a $5 coin. With Ronnie on the front and the Pentagon on the back," wrote Martin. "We need a $5 coin for all the same reasons they keep trying to push a $1 coin, durability, automated vending etc."
Shelby, another reader, suggested a $2 coin.
I dunno. Coins are okay, I guess. But as a legacy, they aren't really a loud-n-proud display, are they?
A bill is where it's at these days, vending machine and counterfeiting problems aside. The portraits are bigger and new colors are getting introduced. Some of us hate those frills, but if you are going to have them, then flaunt them.
So what denomination?
Some folks here in the CNN/Money newsroom argue for a $25 bill. Their arguments? Twenties don't really cover typical middle-purchase transaction these days. ATM firms would have to dispense less paper. Retailers would like more money in people's wallets.
That would put Reagan between two generals, Andrew Jackson and Ulysses S. Grant. Not bad for the Star Wars, "Tear down that Wall" president.
But given the debate that still swirls around Reaganomics to this day (didn't George Bush the Elder call it "Voodoo Economics" at one point?), maybe positioning him between a money guy, Hamilton, and a general makes more sense.
$15 bill anyone?
Allen Wastler is Managing Editor of CNN/Money and a commentator on CNNfn.
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